Proving Ground
by Echoing Fantasy
Summary: Sidestory for 'A Hundred Years'. Tsuna returns to school amidst rumors and speculation. Of course, those prove to be the least of his worries when Mochida decides to snatch one of the kids as retribution for the lost kendo match. Parental!Tsuna.


_Proving Ground_

"Welcome back, omnivore."

Tsuna looked up from where he was bent over filling out paperwork to see Hibari standing nearby, smirking at him. "Ah, good morning Hibari-san. How are you?"

"Well. Though I have heard numerous rumors since coming here." He didn't need to point out about what; Tsuna had seen the shocked looks when he'd gone into the main office of the school that morning to fill out forms that would allow him to bring the kids with him to class. The teachers and principal had all agreed to the transition, so long as they weren't disruptive too often and Tsuna didn't attempt to use them to get out of doing his homework or something.

Hibari looked down and raised an eyebrow. "The baby?"

Tsuna smiled. "Now its a bit more literal, Hibari-san. Reborn can't fend off any attacks, so please don't go smacking him or challenging him to fights."

"Hn." He looked a little disappointed at this, but quickly returned to his normal self when a group of delinquents wearing chains and other 'bling' walked by the window. "Excuse me, Sawada."

"Take your time," Tsuna muttered as he signed his name at the bottom of the form, though not before running a critical eye over the smaller print, making sure he understood what he'd be in for. He ignored the tell-tale thudding in the distance as he stood and took the clipboard back up to the receptionist, smiling at her. "Thank you for all your help. I appreciate it."

"Of course." She smiled at him as she handed him his schedule. He looked it over, noting happily that he was in the same classroom as before. At least that hadn't changed. Looking down, he grabbed Colonnello up and rested him on his hip while the rest ran circles around him. "Well, c'mon you lot, let's go face the music."

And so it was that Sawada Tsunayoshi returned to Namimori Middle exactly eight months and two days after the breaking of the Arcobaleno curse, this time plus six unruly children.

* * *

"Is that...?"

"No way!"

"So it _is _true!"

"Who do you think the mother is?"

"I heard there's more than one."

"Has to be, with six kids."

"Impregnating six girls like that, he has no shame, does he?"

"That's Dame-Tsuna for you, too stupid to recognize his own failure."

Tsuna stopped where he was walking, glancing over to the group of gossipers and smiling coldly at them. "Excuse me, but if you have time to talk about me behind your hands, you've got time to come over here and tell me your lies and rumors to my face so I can correct them." When they stared in shock at him and made no move to do so, he nodded. "Remember that. _All _of you." He looked around at the sea of faces, most staring in shock. "If you've got something to say, say it to my face. Otherwise, shut up."

Eight months ago, Dame-Tsuna wouldn't have thought about saying such things to anyone, let alone in such cold tones. He would have been embarrassed, or upset, but accepting. But this wasn't Dame-Tsuna anymore. This was Sawada Tsunayoshi, father of six, and he would be damned if he let these cocky brats push him around anymore.

"Magnificently said, Jyuudaime!"

"Haha, its the truth, right Tsuna?"

The familiar voices sent chills of happiness going down his spine. "Gokudera, Yamamoto!"

The girls in the vicinity bristled as such a casual call. _Who does he think he is, addressing them in such tones? _

Gokudera Hayato with his hair tied back in a short tail, glasses tucked on the front of his shirt, ran up, beaming. "I've told you before, just call me Hayato, Juudaime!"

Next to him, Yamamoto Takeshi slung an arm over his shoulder and grinned broadly at the brunette. "Don't forget me, Tsuna! I've told you to call me Takeshi, haven't I?"

Tsuna's look softened. "Hayato and Takeshi, then. It's good to see you again."

"You too, Tsuna. We've been really worried you know. Everyone has." Takeshi pulled him close, mindful of Colonnello and hugged him. "You look a little worn out, but its good."

The sharpness of his gaze told Tsuna what his Guardian meant. "Yeah, its been an adventure. But I've managed pretty well. How are Haru and Kyoko?"

"They're doing good. They both wanted to see the babies badly, but we told them to hold off for a while. How old are they now, anyhow?"

"Ten months. Almost old enough to start talking hopefully." Tsuna looked down at Colonnello, who was listening to the conversation avidly. "Almost every one of them has at least one word down – Colonnello's is 'kora', Reborn's is 'dame', Skull's is 'milk', Verde's is 'no', Fon's is 'calm' and Viper's is 'cold'."

Hayato grinned "Impressive, Jyuudaime! I knew we were right in entrusting them to you!"

Tsuna looked at him. "It's not fair for me to call you Hayato and for you to call me Jyuudaime."

The bomber flushed. "B-but..."

"Say it. Tsu-na."

"B-but I-"

"Tsu-na. Say it."

"Yeah, c'mon Hayato, its not that hard."

"S-shut up Baseball Freak! I'm his right hand man, I shouldn't-"

Tsuna glowered. "If you don't say my name, I won't come back when the babies are grown up. I'll stay a lonely hermit for the rest of my life and burn the Vongola to the ground when I inherit it."

"Tsuna." the name was off Hayato's tongue like it had burned him.

"See, was that so hard?" Tsuna asked smugly as he hefted Colonnelo up a little higher and started walking back to the classroom. "Are we all in the same class again?"

"Yep! The girls aren't though – they both got changed to new ones this time." Takeshi had to look at the ground as he walked to make sure he wouldn't step on anyone. When Skull stumbled and fell, he ducked down and picked him up, supporting him on a shoulder. Reborn wanted up then, as did Viper and Fon and Verde. In the end each boy had two babies in their arms, Fon and Verde with Hayato, Skull and Viper with Takeshi and Reborn and Colonnello with Tsuna. When they entered the classroom, a wave of shocked gasps and squeals assaulted their ears.

"Omigod!"

"So cute!"

"Are those yours, Yamamoto-kun?!"

"Gokudera-kun?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes. "They're not theirs. They're mine. All six of them."

A shocked silence met his words. Finally someone spoke. "...No way. Y-you're joking, right Sawada?"

"No actually, I'm not. The babies you see are mine, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't grab them or try to hold them without my permission. They're very finicky towards strangers, and tend to cry very loudly." He took his seat, Hayato and Takeshi on either side of him. They put the babies down, and the five crowded around Tsuna, all vying for his attention. It was clear that some of them – Viper, Skull and Verde – didn't particularly care for the settings they found themselves in, and were trying to move closer to Tsuna. Colonnello slipped off his lap and let the three up in his place, and then walked over to Reborn and Fon and found a spot beside them. Tsuna didn't know what Reborn had said to the others (or if he had said anything at all), but it was enough to make them mind.

So he cradled the trio to him and kept an eye on the other three as he dropped the bag full of baby supplies on his left and his personal bag on his right, digging out a pen and pad of paper he had unearthed from home. As far as Kurosaki had told him, these next few days would mainly be a trial to see if Tsuna could catch up on what he had missed, and if he could be trusted to keep his children under control in a classroom. Assuming he caught up to the others before the end of the school year and assuming his kids didn't become too rambunctious, things would go in his favor.

The teacher came in before long, and started taking roll. When he came across Tsuna's name, he paused. "Sawada? Ms. Kurosaki has already informed me of your needs; if one of your charges needs something, just go ahead and take care of it. But don't disturb the class, understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

And that was that. Or at least it should have been, but the rest of the class had been listening in like hawks, and watched him with various expressions. Some, like a small group of girls in the back, thought Tsuna's suddenly bold personality looked good on him. Others, like a couple of boys who had helped Mochida carry through his kendo stunt, thought it was ridiculous. Dame Tsuna would always be Dame Tsuna, right?

Except he wasn't. Over the course of the class, the kids observed the way Tsuna handled both himself and the children, and there was none of that meek, fearful movement that had been there before. He didn't duck his head or hide his eyes, and even when his gaze was on the board, he handled the infants in an easy, synchronized way that was almost eerie. If one started to stray, he'd lean down and pull them back. If one wanted in his lap, he would reach down and pick them up. When the first interruption came, it didn't come with a sound, but with a motion.

One of the little boys – a blond-haired, blue-eyed angel – walked right up to Tsuna and gently pulled on his pants. Tsuna didn't look down, he just scooped the boy up and stood, quietly leaving the room. The class looked to the rest of the babies, expecting them to start wailing or screaming now that their keeper wasn't around. But they didn't do any of that. One, a raven-haired, black-eyed baby climbed into his seat and gnawed on one of his pencils, but didn't do anything more than that.

And when Tsuna came back about two minutes later, he walked straight to his seat, no tripping or messing around, and pulled the baby out of his seat and into his other arm, sitting down. He grimaced when he saw the drool-covered pencil, but left it there. He rocked the first baby when he began to get fussy, and soon both babies were sound asleep in his arms. The others dragged themselves near his legs or under his desk and fell asleep not long after that.

Needless to say, by the time class got out, a lot of people were impressed.

"Did you see how he handled those babies? He was really mature!"

"And so reliable! He knew what they needed, and they didn't make a single sound!"

"Such an attentive father."

"I guess I was wrong about him after all."

"I guess age really doesn't matter when instinct's involved, huh?"

"Acting like that, all calm and understanding, it makes your heart flutter, right?"

"Yeah! I hope my future husband's as good with kids as he is!"

"Do you hear that Jyuudaime? They're praising you! It's about time they finally realize how magnificent you are!" Gokudera nodded to himself, clearly proud of the fact that his classmates were coming around. He didn't mention that he'd been staring in shock just as much as the rest had been.

Yamamoto laughed. "You did a good job, Tsuna! I guess we really don't have anything to worry about." He ruffled the brown locks, prompting a chuckle out of Tsuna.

He was glad to hear that his classmates (some of them, at least) weren't calling him Dame anymore, but by the same extent he didn't want them to start worshiping the ground he walked on just because he was doing what needed to be done. Besides, he'd had several months to become well-acquainted with his charges. If this had happened back when they'd first come to stay with him, it wouldn't have looked nearly as impressive.

The door to the room slammed open, and a familiar voice bellowed out, "I EXTREMELY HEARD SAWADA CAME BACK! WHERE IS HE, TO THE EXTREME?!"

Skull began to cry, having been startled awake from his nap, Tsuna moving to sooth him while Gokudera darted over and grabbed the other boy by the ear, hissing at him to keep his voice down, the Tenth's children were _trying _to sleep.

"Whoops. Extreme sorry, Sawada."

Tsuna smiled up at his big brother. "It's okay. Skull's always a bit fussy in the afternoons. He'll settle down once he realizes who you are." He lifted the little purple-clad baby up, his gaze turning towards Ryohei. "See Skull? It's just Onii-san. He won't hurt you."

Big teary eyes looked up at Ryohei in suspicion. Ryohei did his best to appear meek and not at all likely to hurt the kid. It didn't work, because Skull screamed and buried his head back in Tsuna's neck, crying for all he was worth. Sighing, the brunette merely picked up his bags and left the room, knowing the teacher would be back soon and if Skull wasn't calm by then he'd be kicked out of class. "I'll be back. Keep an eye on them for me while I'm gone, please?"

The trio nodded. Gokudera watched as his leader rounded the corner and disappeared. He jumped when seconds later a hand landed on his shoulder. A familiar face stood behind him. "Kyoko-san!"

"I heard Tsuna-kun came back. Is here here?"

"Sorry Kyoko-san, you just missed him." Gokudera told her. He winced when she seemed to deflate, her muted happiness leaving her in one fell swoop.

"Oh, okay."

"I-I'm sure he'll be back though!" he stammered to tell her. "Jyuudaime won't leave you out of the loop! I'll make sure to inform him you came to look for him!"

"Will you?" She seemed to perk back up at this. "I really would like to see him before he leaves today!"

All three boys nodded hastily, especially Ryohei. Somehow or another, he'd _extremely _get Sawada to come see Kyoko today. Haru and Kyoko had been patient throughout the entire ordeal, and looked forward to seeing Tsuna again today. Haru was planning to meet up with them after school, so she could spend some time with the brunette as well. The Guardians were worried too, even Hibari, but they all knew Tsuna was capable of protecting himself if it came down to it.

The girls on the other hand had never seen Tsuna in a fight, they had never witnessed his flames of resolve flare to life and burn brighter than ever before. All they knew was Tsuna was suddenly secluding himself up with six tiny babies, and now he was coming back to school.

Kyoko disappeared not long after that, and the teacher made his return. About ten minutes into the lesson Tsuna finally came back, looking a bit tired but still smiling serenely. Skull was contently sucking on a finger, gaze sleepy. Yamamoto chuckled behind his hand, finding the scene unbelievably cute. A couple of girls squealed in the back, and were reprimanded by the teacher. Tsuna just tucked Skull against his side and picked up Viper, who demanded attention, before leaning back in his chair and facing the board.

* * *

It was when lunch arrived that everything hit the fan.

Tsuna had been expecting outrage, even a possible fight against his return. The support he'd found himself facing was nice, and he had relaxed, thinking that maybe things might go right for once. But no, it was not long after Kyoko's arrival in their classroom, beaming and looking happier than he'd seen in a long, that no one other than Kensuke Mochida opened the door.

"Kyoko! What the heck are you doing in here? I thought you were going to eat with me out in the quad!"

Kyoko kept feeding Colonnello, putting down the spoon to wipe a bit of stray rice off Tsuna's cheek before answering. "I never agreed to that, Mochida-san. In fact, I remember saying no." Her smiled was alarmingly cute despite her harsh words. A few snickers told the kendo captain that their words had been overheard. He scowled at the people laughing, and then whirled around on Kyoko. In the process, he caught sight of Tsuna, and his face immediately went red with rage, eyes narrowing.

"_You." _

Tsuna looked up, not seeming the least bit disturbed. "Me," he answered calmly. Feeling a tug on his sleeve, he quickly went back to feeding Reborn bits out of the lunchbox Kyoko had made him. (That had been the surprise of the century, and it had taken a slap from Reborn to stop him from feeling delirious with happiness.)

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Learning, like everyone else. Although right now I'm feeding my children. Why?" he looked up, noting the shock in the other boy's eyes. Clearly he hadn't heard or hadn't paid attention to the rumors surrounding Tsuna these last few months. Or maybe he did, but the words hadn't quite penetrated that obnoxiously thick skull of his.

Mochida looked between Tsuna and the six kids, mouth agape. Slowly, his jaw closed and there was an almost... thoughtful look on his face. "T-these six are yours?"

"Yes. And right now they're very hungry, and your talking is distracting me from feeding them, so if you could perhaps come back later, I'd be more than happy to finish any discussion you want."

Mochida nodded, and made as if to turn. For one moment Tsuna thought that would be that, and Mochida would finally leave him alone. Reborn burped, happy, and little Skull lifted his arms, eager for his turn. This was the moment Tsuna would forever have nightmares about, because it was one of the few times everything dark and despicable rose up inside of him, and he almost let it take control.

Mochida seized Skull by the back of his shirt and ran off, Skull's screams echoing in his wake. For one second, Tsuna's vision went white, and his brain went off-line. Then in the next heartbeat, every primal instinct he possessed welled up inside of him, and he was bellowing Mochida's name in a voice that didn't sound like his own.

"Boss-" Gokudera stood as if to intervene, but Tsuna was faster.

"_Hold Reborn," _Tsuna hissed. Gokudera snatched him up and Tsuna was off, tearing out of the room with a ferocious fervor he wasn't aware he could have, bearing down on Mochida with an instinct to tear and rip and _kill him for taking Skull._

"What's the matter, Dame-Tsuna? You can't have what you can't catch!" The kendo fighter laughed at the end of the hallway, lifting Skull up to show him off before dashing off again, Tsuna roaring and rounding the corner, refusing to slow down for even a second. He took the corners so fast he slammed into the glass, and shards of it embedded in his arms and shoulder. But he didn't care – all he cared about was catching up to Mochida and making him understand why taking one of his kids was a very bad idea.

The sound of shattering glass ahead of him caught his ear, and he rounded the corner, teeth bared and fingers ready to find the weak spots on his opponent's body, only to freeze, everything inside of him going cold at what he was seeing.

Mochida stood next to the now-open window, dangling Skull with two fingers over the quad. Two stories up, a fall would kill him if he was dropped. The baby obviously realized this, and was bawling and screeching with all the force he could. Tsuna felt bile rise up inside him as fear settled on his bones. "Mochida, don't do it."

"Why not, _Dame-Tsuna? _After all, he's your kid. Everyone knows stupid people shouldn't be allowed to procreate. I'm doing you a favor. I would do you five more, but I don't have enough arms."

The threat against the others ripped a snarl from deep inside his chest, and he watched in satisfaction as the kendo star went white, eyes wide. "If you hurt him, I'll kill you," Tsuna swore quietly. By now a crowd had gathered, and he could hear voices in the background, whispering in shock and fear. Someone was told to get a teacher, to get _somebody. _"I'll rip you apart and leave your body for the crows to find."

"That's going to be awful hard, Dame-Tsuna. You can't touch me," Mochida sneered, apparently having gained back his backbone. "You can't even beat me in kendo, what makes you think you can kill me?"

Again, Tsuna froze, except this time for a different reason. A horrible thought was taking root, and like a poisoned flower it unfurled in his mind. "You're doing this out of revenge. Because I sullied your pride." Something bitter rose up inside him, cold and black and so very hateful. "You're attacking an _innocent child _because of something _I _did?!"

"He's yours. That's enough for me, Dame-Tsuna. Although if you want, after I'm through here, I'd be glad to help you make your grave too."

"I'll kill you," Tsuna hissed, rising up on his toes. "When I get Skull back, you'd better be running, because I'm going to track you down and kill you like the worm you are. You'll be begging for death by the time I'm through with you."

Mochida snorted. "Whatever."

"Let him go, Mochida."

The boy smirked. "As you wish." And he dropped Skull.

Every instinct inside Tsuna locked onto Skull like a missile, and without thinking for his own safety, he dove forward, shoving Mochida aside and going through the window after Skull. He heard screams behind him, heard cries and voices bellowing his name. He heard Kyoko and Takeshi and Hayato. He heard the other children screaming for him. None of that mattered though – they were only distractions. His arms wrapped around Skull, and he flipped onto his back, tucking his body up close as a shield.

Then gravity did the rest. He slammed into the ground with enough power to knock the wind from his lungs, and drive pain to every part of his body. Black spots danced before his eyes, and Tsuna could hear his own heartbeat in his ears. Skull was still screaming, but now he was patting Tsuna's face, pulling at hair and eyes and lips because he needed to know somehow that his savior was still alive after that fall.

Despite the pain in his body, the pain of scaring Skull was much worse, and so Tsuna raised his head and smiled. "I'm okay Skull," he whispered, his voice nothing more than a thin rattle in his chest. God he felt bad.

**"JYUUDAIME!"**

Gokudera was suddenly rushing up to him, Kyoko, Takeshi, Onii-san hot on his heels. However, that wasn't the surprise. The surprise was that Shamal was there too, running just as fast. He almost looked panicked, but that was impossible because Shamal never panicked. Tsuna let his head drop as the group skidded to a stop by him, kicking up dirt. "Oh my god Jyuudaime, Jyuudaime are you okay? No, that's a stupid question, of course you're not okay! Oh my god Shamal, do something!"

"Move," Shamal shoved him aside, a hand moving to cup Tsuna's neck and raise it up while he shone a light in his eyes. "Can you talk, Tsunayoshi? Do you know where you are? What your name is?"

"Namimori, m'name's Sawada Tsunayoshi," Tsuna muttered, blinking more black dots away. "The kids?"

"They're all here with us."

"Good. Could someone go kill Mochida for me please? I'd do it myself, but I feel kinda bad right now."

Shamal smiled, but it was all teeth. "I already sent my mosquitoes after him, and that prefect of yours is hot on his tail last I saw. I believe there's also a vengeful mob after him, but I could be wrong." A needle was produced from somewhere, and Tsuna watched with vague interest as it pierced a vein in his arm. A cold feeling ran up his arm, causing him to shiver. A few moments later he was blinking rapidly, trying to stop his head from feeling so heavy. He still had the rest of school to go through, and he needed to feed the kids. And he was pretty sure he was bleeding and there was glass in his arm.

"Just relax, Tsunayoshi. It's a mild sedative to help you sleep while I call a hospital. A two-story fall shouldn't kill you, but I'd rather not risk it. The kids will stay close, so you don't need to worry." Shamal's voice began to sound more and more like he was in a tunnel. "We'll all be with you when you wake up. Just get some rest."

Shamal was being very persuasive, Tsuna thought as the world blurred and began to drop away. Tsuna couldn't seem to come up with a single argument to his reasons to go to sleep. Well, he was an adult after all. Surely that came with the territory.

* * *

Shamal kept his promise. Tsuna woke up nearly a full day later, feeling well-rested if not a little fuzzy-headed. He was on his stomach, shirtless, and there was a bony, warm body on his back. Three, actually. There was also one on each of his sides, and the final one laying up next to his face, a hand clutching at his hair.

"Welcome back, Tsunayoshi. How are you feeling?" The scraping of chair legs told him there were people standing up. He turned his head carefully to see all who was present, and found all of his Guardians, as well as Kyoko, Haru and Shamal there.

"Fine. What happened? Where's Mochida?"

"One thing at a time, young Vongola. First, you should be aware that the kids clung to you the entire time we had you in here. It took me quite a bit of bribery to get them to let go even long enough for me to get your arm stitched up. You owe them several trips to the beach, four ice cream excursions and a weekend at the fair when it comes around."

Tsuna blinked, laughing quietly. "Okay then. Mochida?"

"In jail." Shamal's smile was grim. "He's very lucky to be alive. Most of your classmates witnessed what happened, and they overheard everything. Hibari caught him and nearly beat him to death, and after the principal and teachers pried him off, he called the police. They took the statements of the students, and Mochida was expelled. Not even his parents were willing to help him get out of trouble once they heard what happened."

"Did you treat him?"

Shamal snorted. "Goodness no! I had my hands full with you. Besides, I don't treat idiots."

"You also don't treat men, which doesn't fit considering you're treating me."

The doctor looked at him, completely serious. "I treat men when they deserve it, Tsunayoshi."

"And I deserve it?"

He nodded. "Ask around school when you get back. You'll find quite a few people don't think you're Dame anymore."

The hand on his hair suddenly tightened, and Reborn's black eyes opened, looking straight at him. Before anyone could say anything, one of his tiny hands lashed out and he smacked Tsuna square on the nose. "Ow!"

"Dame," he growled.

"Yes, I know it was stupid. But Skull wouldn't have survived the fall."

"Dame-Dame."

"I don't _care _if that makes me an idiot. I wouldn't have let him die anymore than I would let any of _you _die. We've been over this, Reborn."

The baby glowered at him, apparently not satisfied in the slightest. A group of movements told him the others were up, and gathering from the tiny noises they were making they weren't any happier than Reborn was. He just sighed and accepted it; there was no way he would convince them not to be angry.

Shamal shook his head. "You're lucky they aren't in their adult forms, or you'd _really _be in need of my skills. As it is, nothing's broken, but you've got quite the colorful bruise on your back. You'll have it for a week or so, and it'll fade. You also had quite a bit of glass in your arm, which I got out. You've got two stitches, those should heal in a few weeks with no scars."

"That's good at least." Finally turning over, Tsuna looked at his Guardians. "Sorry for the scare, everybody."

Gokudera looked about two seconds away from tears. "J-Jyuudaime..."

Yamamoto's face was stern. "It's not nice to leave us out of important things like this, Tsuna. What if something bad happens next time?"

"Tsuna," Kyoko said, her soft voice somehow carrying a heavier reprimand than either Yamamoto's or Gokudera's. "Please don't do that again."

"Hahi! Jumping off buildings is no fun! What if you break something?" Haru glared at him, although it came across as more of an angry pout.

"Omnivore, don't be a herbivore." And with that Kyouya left, obviously content that his Sky wasn't brain dead or useless.

"THAT WAS EXTREMELY UNCOOL, SAWADA! IF YOU HAD MADE KYOKO CRY, I WOULD HAVE EXTREMELY HIT YOU!"

"Please stop yelling," Shamal sighed, sticking a finger in his ear as if blocking Ryohei's loud voice. "And don't disturb the other patients."

"Bossu, Mukuro says he won't take over the body of someone who's suicidal, so please don't do that again." Chrome appeared upset her own self, but she didn't act on it.

"Nyahahaha! Lambo-sama knows better than to jump from high places! You're so stupid, Tsuna!"

"Shut up you stupid cow! At least Jyuudaime was doing it to protect someone!"

A tug on his shirt made Tsuna look down, and he found Skull sitting on his chest, big watery eyes looking up at him while a lower lip trembled. Skull held open his arms, and Tsuna accepted the hug, murmuring reassurances to his charge. The others gathered close, bathing in the quiet words, all of them holding on to some part of Tsuna as if they expected him to vanish at any moment. Not that Tsuna could blame them of course – he had given everyone a very bad scare.

"Not to interrupt this touching moment or anything, but the Ninth is on line one, your mother is on line two, your father is on line three, the Varia is on line four, the Shimon are on line five and Byakuran's bunch are on line six. All of them are eager to talk to you."

Smiling down at the now ghostly-white teen, Shamal extended the phone towards him. "I suggest you start practicing your grovelling Tsunayoshi, because there's a very good chance no one is going to let you out of their sight for a _long _time."

* * *

Author's Notes

Phew! And with that, its done. The first day back. Poor Tsuna, all he wanted to do was learn and instead he gets a trip to the hospital. How unlucky is he? Hopefully everyone is in-character, or at least close - I know I probably skewered Shamal, but I figure after giving Gokudera a good home and helping him he'd be a little warmer to Tsuna.

Mochida struck me as the type to hold grudges over things like getting his pride battered. I think he's hot-headed enough and arrogant enough to take it out on anyone younger or weaker than him, especially if they're related to the person he hates in question.

Anyway, let me know if it doesn't seem right or if there are edits I missed, and I'll redo them.

This all takes place after Chapter 3 in _A Hundred Years, _in case you're wondering about the time frame.


End file.
